IBM to Acquire Kenexa To
Bolster Social Business Initiatives

IBM and Kenexa Corporation recently
announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire
Kenexa, a publicly held company headquartered in Wayne, Pa.,
in a cash transaction at a price of $46 per share, or at a net price of
approximately $1.3 billion.

The acquisition bolsters IBM's leadership in
helping clients embrace social business capabilities while gaining actionable
insights from the enormous streams of information generated from social
networks every day.

Kenexa, a leading provider of recruiting and
talent management solutions, brings a unique combination of Cloud-based
technology and consulting services that integrates both people and processes,
providing solutions to engage a smarter, more effective workforce across their
most critical business functions.

Social business empowering people, empowering your business. It helps you create exceptional customer experiences, build a smarter workforce, and compete with the world's best. To become a social business today, read IBM POV: http://www.ibm.com/social-business/us...

IBM recently announced new initiatives to further support and speed up the adoption of the Linux operating system across the enterprise. These include two new Power Systems Linux Centers and plans to extend support for Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology to its Power Systems portfolio of server products.

New Power Systems Linux Centers in Austin and New York

In July, IBM will open its first North American IBM Power Systems Linux Centers -- one in Austin, Texas and the other in New York, NY. The centers will make it simpler for software developers to build and deploy new applications for big data, cloud, mobile and social business computing on open technology building blocks using Linux and the latest IBM POWER 7+ processor technology.

IBM Drives Enterprise Adoption of Big Data, Cloud, Mobile and Social Business Technologies

As the world experiences sweeping business change powered by big data, cloud, mobile and social business technologies, IBM recently unveiled new business process and integration software and services that will enable global organizations to accelerate adoption.

According to an IBM study, CEOs for the first time have identified technology as the most important external aspect impacting their organizations today[i]. As the adoption of big data, cloud, mobile and social business technology continue to transform industries, organizations increasingly value how these technologies can improve customer engagement, forge new partnerships and drive competitive advantage. Yet, many organizations are still struggling to reinvent their business operations and keep pace with the explosion of mobile channels and volume of data being generated.

To meet these growing needs, IBM’s new business process and integration software and services will enable organizations to extend and connect their existing infrastructures to a wide variety of mobile devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies. As a result, clients will now be able to simplify day-to-day operations and reach their customers and constituents with insightful information, anywhere and anytime.

European Data Center Will Give Businesses Opportunity
to Follow Customers such as Shanks that are Benefiting from Cloud Based Social
Business Solutions Today

IBM recently announced that
it will be extending its industry leadership with the opening of a
European-based IBM SmartCloud for Social
Business Data
Center. The move aims to
help business leaders, such as chief information officers (CIO), chief
marketing officers (CMO), and chief human resource officers (CHRO), begin their
organization's transformation with the adoption of social business
technology.

Based in Germany and serving
the needs of customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the new facility
will help businesses follow the lead of customers such as Arnold Clark, Codorniu, Shanks,
Centrax TCL
and Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) who are
using cloud-based social business offerings to build the 21st Century
workforces that can more efficiently share knowledge to spark innovation and
deliver their customers flawless
experiences.

IBM recently announced the closing of its
acquisition of Kenexa. Kenexa bolsters
IBM's leadership
in helping clients embrace social
business capabilities while gaining actionable insights from the enormous
streams of information generated from social networks every day. The net
purchase price is approximately $1.3 billion.

Kenexa, a leading provider of recruiting and
talent management solutions, brings a unique combination of Cloud-based
technology and consulting services that integrates both people and processes,
providing solutions to engage a smarter, more effective workforce across their
most critical business functions.

Kenexa complements IBM's strategy of
bringing relevant data and expertise into the hands of business leaders within
every functional department, from sales and marketing to product development
and human resources.

Social Sentiment: Are You
Listening?

As social media tools become
more prevalent, those participating in the online conversation become
increasingly influential, especially as their opinions travel faster and to a
wider group of consumers. The IBM Social Sentiment Index uses analytics and
natural language processing technologies to aggregate and gauge consumer public
opinions from Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media.

One of the biggest buzzwords these days is
‘social media’. Everyone talks about how it’s important to consider a social
media strategy and how their business can be present on Facebook, Twitter etc.
If we can use these new platforms to share and have a dialogue with friends and
family, why shouldn’t we use this new technology to collaborate and share in
our corporate life - within our organization, internally and externally?
Social business is not something that you can assign the marketing department
and expect to be implemented in the organization. It is more of a change in the
way you think which can result in more open, communicative corporate
culture.

Being social and collaborating is more than
a company with a Facebook page or Twitter account. It’s about implementing and
cultivating a spirit of collaboration and community throughout its organization,
both internally and externally. And since it is somewhat of a comprehensive
change, the idea of adopting social tools into their organization is often
dismissed. Furthermore, the fear of having no control, less privacy and
security keeps social business out of the business strategy. But as the
employee gets more used to various social platforms and this knowledge and way
of sharing spreads to businesses, leaders have to consider and adjust to the
idea of an open, interactive environment in order for them to stay competitive.

Most of us can all relate to the
overwhelming amount of emails that we receive everyday and how the intranet and
databases can be confusing, chaotic and slow. When you need the latest
information, a social private network allows you to sort and search by key
words and subjects. Furthermore, you can share videos and voice memos to
increase understanding and make processing of the information easier. You can
have FAQ sites and online forums where you’re able to have a debate which can
benefit not only those directly involved, but also serve others from your
organization that might deal with some of the same issues as yourself.

In a world where everything changes at an
incredible pace, the ability to find information swiftly can help your
organization save time and money.

A recent altimeter
report, surveying private social networking decision makers for 250+ sized
organizations, asked how much impact a private social network had on
collaboration between teams and departments. 64.2% of executives told Altimeter
it was moderate to very significant. 65% said private social networking had an
impact on reducing internal emails, while another 60% were able to streamline a
business process. Other tangible business efficiencies as a result of internal
social networking included increased employee retention, faster decision
making, and a reduction in the volume of meetings

However, you can’t just jump right into it.
Companies need to know exactly what they want to get out of it, and then align
their business process with the right tools and platforms in order for it to be
a successful implementation.

IBM Redefines Social Business with the Power of
AnalyticsFortune 100 Clients Tout Returns
on Social Investments

IBM recently unveiled new
software and services that bring the power of big data analytics into the hands
of today's social savvy workforce anytime, anywhere. Now, organizations can
apply analytics to their social business initiatives, allowing them to gain
actionable insight on information generated on networksand put it to work in real-time.